The Forever Year

by Lou Aronica

  Marina laughed. “The assignments were never that bad.”

  “I know, but they certainly felt like it sometimes. How’s everything going at school? Is Cassie still throwing up in class?”

  “Thankfully, no. The big news on this end is that we began rehearsals for the musical this afternoon. There are some kids who can actually sing. Melissa Parks is a fifth grader, and I knew I could count on her. But there’s this little second grader with a voice like Ethel Merman’s. You should have seen the expressions on the other kids’ faces when she opened her mouth.”

  “Wow, your first diva. Has her manager contacted you yet?”

  “Not yet. That reminds me, your brother-in-law Brad called and asked you to call him before you get back.”

  “I’m not going to ask how Ethel Merman reminded you that my brother-in-law called. Is my father still doing the dishes?”

  “Every night. I don’t even bother to pretend that I’m willing to do them anymore.”

  “You know that he won’t lift a finger when I get back there, right?”

  “Well, I am much cuter than you are.”

  “You’ll get no argument from me about that.” Jesse paused and she knew that he was imagining her in his mind. Probably with that white sweater he got all worked up about.

  “I should get going,” he said after the pause. “I’m meeting some of the marketing people for dinner. I’ll call tomorrow night.”

  “You might want to make it a little later. Your dad’s taking me out to dinner tomorrow night.”

  “I knew he was going to make a move on you.”

  “Hey, we never said this thing was exclusive.”

  “Don’t even joke about that.”

  “I’ll talk to you tomorrow night. Have a great day tomorrow.”

  “Thanks, you too. I miss you.”

  Marina’s eye settled on the Little League trophy again. She was definitely going to ask him about it when he got home. “Yeah, I miss you too.”

  Marina put down the phone. As was so often the case when she started pondering her future, a simple conversation with Jesse seemed to quell any concerns.

  Mickey was eating his ice cream when Marina got back to the table. “He didn’t want to talk to me?”

  “Sorry, I monopolized him. He had to run off to a dinner.”

  Mickey shook his head. “Better he talk to you.” He took another spoonful of ice cream. “I still can’t believe you made this stuff. I’ve had some great ice cream in my time. But this . . ..”

  Marina touched Mickey on the hand. He was so easy to please. He ate quietly for a moment and Marina played idly with a couple of checkers.

  “Jesse’s doing okay out there?” Mickey said.

  “He sounds like he’s doing great. He seems so excited about this story and about the winery itself. I’ve never heard him talk this way before.”

  “This is good for him. Hopefully he’ll get more stuff like this.” He looked up at her meaningfully. “He isn’t a lot of fun to be around when he’s writing stories he doesn’t like.”

  Marina nodded. “So I’ve heard. At least he’s honest about that kind of thing.”

  Mickey snorted. “Yeah, my son is big on honesty.”

  Marina wasn’t entirely sure what Mickey meant by that, and she didn’t respond. For a few beats, it didn’t appear that he was going to say anything else. Then he put his spoon down (with at least a quarter of a scoop left in his bowl) and sat back in his chair.

  “I don’t know what to make of you two,” he said.

  Marina tilted her head. She didn’t know where Mickey was going with this.

  “I mean, the two of you look all cuddly when you’re together and a doorknob could tell that there are real sparks between you, but according to him you don’t have any plans.”

  Marina wondered if Mickey had been this blunt with Jesse. If he had, Jesse hadn’t mentioned it. “Jesse and I care a great deal for one another. That’s more than I can say about a lot of couples who profess big commitments.”

  “So you actually buy into this?”

  This was not the time for Marina to confess what she had been thinking about only minutes earlier. There would probably never be an appropriate time to confess such thoughts to Mickey, no matter how well they got along. “I’m fine with it. I think one of the reasons Jesse and I connect so well is that we’ve both had some tough times in relationships in the past.”

  “You and the entire rest of the world. Everyone has to deal with heartache.”

  “That’s true. Of course. But Jesse and I have chosen to deal with it the same way. Or at least in a similar way. I think it’s been a big help in our relationship.”

  Mickey grunted. “So neither of you believes in long-term relationships, which allows you to have a really good relationship, but you can’t sign on for the long term because you don’t believe in that.”

  Marina had to admit to herself that Mickey’s presentation made it seem a little silly. “I guess you could put it that way.”

  “And this doesn’t make you crazy?”

  Mickey seemed to be getting agitated. Again, Marina touched Mickey’s hand. This seemed to calm him down quickly. “It really doesn’t.”

  “You should have more than that,” he said, half under his breath.

  “It’s okay, Mickey, really. It’s more than okay. It’s good. This is the healthiest relationship I’ve ever been in. And we’re not saying it isn’t going to be a long-term thing. You know, you take things day by day and sometimes the days add up.”

  “But my son claims to be convinced that all love dies eventually.”

  Marina nodded. “And for all we know, he could be right about that.”

  “He’s not right about that.”

  He said the words softly, but Marina could feel the conviction behind them.

  “Whether he’s right or wrong, we’ll find out in time. And either way, we won’t waste a lot of energy worrying about it.”

  Mickey looked up at her. It was obvious to Marina that he knew it was time to drop the subject, but it was also obvious to her that nothing she had said during this conversation had changed his mind in any way.

  “And I’ll make you a deal,” Marina continued. “Even if I wind up dumping your son, I’ll still come around to bring you dessert every now and then.”

  Mickey smiled. “Well, if that’s the case, you can bounce his ass tomorrow.”

  ~~~~~~~~

  Marina had kissed him on the cheek before he went to his room. She really was something. It was hard to believe that she could have convinced herself of some of the things she was saying to him an hour or so before. Why would a woman like Marina ever need to compromise?

  Lying in bed with the light still on, Mickey had to admit that he wasn’t as good at understanding people as he once had been. He’d made it a point to keep his eyes and his mind open long after most of his contemporaries had begun to complain about the dim-wittedness of the younger generations. But despite his best efforts, his grasp had weakened over time. First, it was the music that he couldn’t abide. Then the preoccupation with money and then the more annoying preoccupation with designer/gourmet/premium everything. There’d always been a distinction between the best and the run-of-the-mill, but coffee, t-shirts, telephones? Who cared? Maybe this was one of the downsides to having a son so much younger. You had to try to stay in touch with the way the world was changing long past the point when you wanted to.

  But some things shouldn’t ever change, and Mickey knew this wasn’t the old man in him talking. Love and romance wasn’t any different now than it had been sixty years ago. Not the real stuff. That had been the same for centuries, millennia.

  Why was it that his conversation with Marina left him feeling so unsettled? It could just be that he had gotten it wrong about her and Jesse. Maybe they really didn’t have that thing between them that he thought they had. It was the only logical explanation.

  While it was unusual for him to do at nig
ht, Mickey felt a strong need to talk to Gina. As he struggled out of bed, he remembered why he never got up to walk around once he was down for the night, even if he couldn’t sleep. It was just too much work.

  He got the picture out and sat back down. It dawned on him that he could probably keep the picture out of the box now that Jesse knew about Gina. He should probably even show the photograph to his son. But keeping it on his dresser would probably make Jesse uncomfortable, even if he almost never came in here. Jesse and Dorothy had been so close.

  “The kid’s making me feel old tonight,” Mickey said to the image of Gina he had in his head. “After all this time, it turns out that your man is out of touch. Did you ever think that would happen? I’m sure it hasn’t happened to you. You always knew what was going on before I did. And you always saw people differently. It’d be great for you to meet Jesse. Maybe you would understand him.

  “This girl of his is a real prize. That much I know for sure. I always was a great judge of substance in a woman, and this one is really substantial. I don’t think he sees it, though. And what’s even more surprising is that she doesn’t seem to mind. Could you imagine if I had been that stupid with you?

  “I gotta tell him some more about you when he gets back from his trip. It really wears me out, but I know I have to keep on doing it. I’d just cut to the chase with him, but I don’t think he would understand what I was trying to say to him if I did it any other way. Matty maybe, but not Jesse. Of course, I couldn’t tell Matty the story at all because he would overreact to all the wrong things, so I guess I shouldn’t complain.

  “I’d better get to sleep. Marina gets up early for work and I like to have breakfast with her before she leaves.

  “I love you. Save a place at the table for me.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  I got home very late from the airport and Marina and my father were already asleep. Marina was in the guest room, and as much as I would have loved to have awakened her to come into mine, that seemed rather selfish. If Marina ever so much as yawned in front of her class, she would feel guilty for a week, and I didn’t want to be responsible for that. I set my alarm for 6:20 so I would be up to wake her in the morning.

  “You’re back,” she said sleepily when I leaned over to kiss her and snuggle in beside her. “What time is it?”

  “It’s morning.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t wait up for you last night.”

  “I got here at a quarter after two.”

  She stretched and rolled over to kiss me. “In that case, I’m not sorry I didn’t wait up.”

  I kissed her again and held her. Hayward himself had driven me to the airport the day before, and we sat at the bar exchanging stories. It was the appropriate punctuation for an inspiring trip, and during the flight back, I found myself wishing that I could have had more time out there, that I would have thought to move to a more modest inn and just bask a little longer on my own dime. But now that I was home and holding Marina again, I remembered how much I missed her, and especially how much I missed having her in my arms when we first woke up in the morning.

  “I don’t suppose there’s any possible chance of convincing you to take the day off, is there?”

  Marina nuzzled a little closer and kissed my neck. “I can’t. I have a conference with a parent this morning and there’s the play. If you’re really lucky, though, I’ll allow you to make me a fabulous dinner tonight.”

  “You’re so good to me.” I was mildly disappointed, but I knew that the odds of Marina taking the day off were long. She was never casual when it came to her job. I held her quietly in an effort to extract as much of this time as possible before she got up.

  “It would be nice to just stay like this,” she said.

  “What’s one missed parent conference?”

  “I shouldn’t.”

  I kissed her and she let out a little moan that suggested that my chances were better than I’d imagined. At which point the sharp rap came on the door.

  “Marina? Are you okay?” my father said. “It’s ten to seven.”

  “I’m fine, Mickey, just off to a slow start.”

  I groaned. “What the hell is he doing up already?”

  “He’s been getting up every morning to have breakfast with me.”

  “I think I’m going to be nauseous.”

  “Oh stop. It’s cute.”

  “You and I obviously have different definitions of that word.”

  She stretched again and sat up on one elbow. She kissed me on the cheek and rolled over me to get out of bed.

  “I guess the parent conference is on, huh?” I said.

  She looked at me plaintively. I realized I’d never seen her get out of bed in a t-shirt before, and I was surprised at how sexy I found it, especially with that expression on her face.

  “I really can’t. It’s Derek’s mother. You know, Derek is the one who just started crying in the middle of class a couple of weeks ago.”

  “Oh yeah. That was pretty weird, huh?”

  “He just always seemed so together before. It’s important that I talk things over with his mom.”

  I lay back in the bed. “Okay, Derek’s mother wins. What do you want for your fabulous dinner?”

  School clothes on one arm, she walked over to the bed, kissed me softly, and then much more deeply. I swear that I floated a little.

  “Use your imagination,” she said, walking away.

  “My imagination is currently working on a different project.”

  She turned back and smiled at me before going out the door. I stayed in the bed. The pillow was still slightly warm from where she had been lying, and the sheets held the faintest essence of her. Once the shower went on, I decided to get up. I was tempted to join her, but I’d already slowed her down too much. Instead, I went into the kitchen to find my father.

  “Oh, you did get home last night,” he said. “I didn’t hear you.”

  “It was late.”

  “Is Marina up yet? I made her coffee, and she likes English muffins for breakfast.”

  I laughed to myself. I realized how someone might actually describe this behavior as “cute.” “Yeah, she’s in the shower. Do you want me to signal you when she comes out the bathroom door so you can start the toaster?”

  “Nah, it’s okay. English muffins only take a minute anyway,” he said, missing my sarcasm.

  He looked great. He wasn’t moving around any better than he had been before I left, but his spirits seemed high. It was difficult to remember that I had been worried about him before I went on the trip. I should have realized that his spending this much time with Marina would rejuvenate him.

  “So, did you get your story?” he said.

  “Nailed it, I think. I did a lot of useful writing the last couple of days. By the time I got off the plane, I had most of a first draft.”

  He handed me a cup of coffee.

  “Oh, that reminds me,” I said, and returned to my room. I brought him his handmade mug.

  “What’s this?” he said when I gave it to him.

  “I got it in a shop in Yountville. Made by a local artist. I thought it might be time to retire the mug your insurance agent gave you.”

  He ran his hand over the mug, examining the uneven texture and the understated use of metallic glaze.

  “Now all I need is designer taste buds,” he said, smiling at me.

  “Nah, you always had those.”

  He went to the sink and poured the coffee from his current mug (”Joseph A. Tress: Put Yourselves in Our Hands”) into his new one.

  “So you got a good story,” he said after trying out a sip. “You should be very happy.”

  “I am. In fact, I think I’m going to take the day off to celebrate. Maybe go for a drive down the shore. Wanna come with me?”

  “Come with you where?” Marina said as she walked into the kitchen, kissing both of us on the forehead. As expected, my father immediately turned toward the toaster.

&nb
sp; “I’m giving myself a little break and going for a drive down the shore. I was just asking my father if he wanted to come with me.”

  “Mmm, sounds great. I wish I could join you.”

  “You had your chance,” I said playfully. “Now the offer’s off the table.”

  Marina responded by walking over to my father at the toaster and hugging him around the shoulders. “Mickey, you’re much nicer to me than your son.”

  My father seemed to be blushing as he said, “I could have told you that.”

  A few minutes later, Marina was out the door. I really didn’t want to see her go, and I made her stop to kiss me goodbye several times on her way to her car. The final time, she actually rolled her window up in order to move me away.

  “So are you coming?” I said to my father when I got back in the house.

  “Where are you going, anyway?”

  “South.”

  “You mean like Miami?”

  “I don’t think we’d make it back by dinner time. I don’t know, I just came off of a really good trip, and I don’t feel like checking my e-mail or returning phone calls or catching up. I just feel like taking the day off and going for a little drive.”

  “Shouldn’t you be finishing your story?”

  “The story’s finished. I want to take a day away from it to get a little perspective. I’ll read it through again tomorrow and make any changes I need before I send it off to Aline.” I walked over to put on my sneakers. “So are you coming or are you leaving me alone with my iPod?”

  My father laughed and shook his head. “You sure are in a good mood. Yeah, I’ll come.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  For a short while, Mickey thought Jesse was simply going to talk nonstop for the entire drive. He’d rarely seen his son this animated. Obviously things had gone well on his trip. He seemed to think he’d made some kind of professional breakthrough. Mickey was happy for him, though he still thought Jesse would be better off with a stable job that paid a regular salary. He could have his writing breakthroughs in his spare time.

  “Hey, did Marina tell you that Brad called while I was away?” Jesse said. It was the first time during his monologue that he’d said anything that required a response.